1. MAJOR PROBLEMS OF
AGRICULTURAL SECTOR OF
PAKISTAN
DISCUSS THE MAJOR PROBLEMS
OF AGRICULTURAL SECTOR OF
PAKISTAN. WHAT MEASURES DO
YOU SUGGEST TO IMPROVE THIS
SECTOR?
Introduction:
Agricultural sector is the backbone of
our economy. But the growth of
agriculture in Pakistan is facing a lot of
problems. Due to various causes, per
acre yield is very low in Pakistan as
compare to other developed countries.
PROBLEMS OF AGRICULTURAL
SECTOR

2. Problems of agricultural sector are
categorized as below:
A. TECHNO-ECONOMIC
PROBLEMS
1) Limited Cultivable Area
The total area of Pakistan is about
79.6 million hectares, out of which only
23.7 million hectares (28%) area is used
for agricultural purposes. About 8 million
hectares area is idle and un-utilized.
There is vast sub-division and
fragmentation of land holdings, as a
result modern technology cannot be
applied in agriculture sector.
2) Water Logging and Salinity
Water logging and salinity are twin
problems of agricultural sector due to
salinity, deposits of salt in land have
appeared on the surface of land and
they have adversely affected the

3. performance of agricultural sector.
Water logging and salinity affect about
0.10 million acre of land in every year. It
is not only waste of land but also
reduction in productivity.
3) Slow Growth of Allied Products
Allied products refer to those
productions, which are not agricultural
but indirectly, help the farmer to improve
his living standard. Pakistan is in-
sufficient in the production of fruits, milk,
poultry, fisheries, livestock and forestry.
As a result not only our food quality is
poor but also industries such as
furniture, textiles and dairy cannot be
developed.
4) Low Per Hectare Yield
The most important problem of
agriculture is its low yield per hectare for
almost every major crop. 45.0% of
labour force is engaged in this sector in

4. Pakistan while it is less than 5% in
developed countries. But, other
countries of world are getting higher
yield per hectare due to use of modern
technology and trained labour.
5) Inadequate Infrastructure
Rural infrastructure like, roads, storage
facilities, transport, electricity, education,
sanitation and health facilities etc. is
inadequate to meet the requirement of
growth of agriculture. Total length of
farm-to-market road is not only shorter
but their condition is also poor. Many
villages have no metal-led road at all.
Electricity is available to only 3/4 rural
populations.
6) Uneconomic Land Holdings
Due to increasing population and
division of land under the law of
inheritance, landholdings are subdivided
over and over again. The result is that

5. very large number of farmers has less
than 2 hectares of area. Moreover
holdings are scattered. It is difficult to
use modern machinery on small pieces
of land.
7) Old Methods of Production
No doubt, mechanization of
agriculture is increasing in Pakistan, but
in most of the areas, the old implements
are still being used for agricultural
production. Old and orthodox
techniques of production cannot
increase the production according to
international levels.
8) Inadequate Supply of Agricultural
Inputs
The supply of modern inputs like
high yielding variety (HYV) seeds,
chemical fertilizers, pesticides,
mechanized machinery etc. not only
costly but also inadequate and irregular

6. in Pakistan. Numbers of fertilizer
producing units are just 10 in Pakistan.
9) Lack of Irrigation Facilities
Shortage of irrigation facilities
causes a serious limitation in the
expansion of crop area in Pakistan. The
lower water supplies, loses from water
course in the fields are the serious
problems of farm sector. Actual surface
water availability is 91.8 million acre
feet.
10) Inadequate Agricultural Research
The average crop yield in Pakistan is
very low as compared to the production
levels of the advanced countries of the
world. In order to raise the potential of
agricultural production, there should be
continuous improvement in the research
for agricultural growth. Total agricultural
universities and colleges are only 16 in
Pakistan.

7. 11) Problem of Land Reforms
Land reforms have been
implemented against the will of people.
There is an urgent need to conduct a
proper land reform for improving
agricultural growth. Due to this problem
agricultural production cannot increase
to desired level.
12) Defective Land Tenure System
Defective land tenure system is also
responsible for low yield per acre in
agricultural sector. Landlords and
feudal-lords live in posh urban areas
while tenants and peasants have no or
less incentive for their hard work. So,
the productivity in agricultural sector
remains low.
13) Subsistence Farming
Our farmer is attached with
subsistence farming; a huge of portion
of production is consumed at farmer’s
own house to support large family.

8. Hence, less portion of the production is
available for market supply. It causes
low income of the farmers. Farming is
not conducted at commercial level in
Pakistan.
14) Low Cropping Intensity
Cropping intensity means the
number of crops grown on a piece of
land in one year. At the present stage of
our development, there is low level of
cropping intensity as compared to
advanced countries. Cultivable area
under double or multiple cropping is
inadequate in Pakistan.
15) Improper Crop Rotation
Proper turning round of crops is
essential to re-establish the fertility of
the land. The constant cultivation of one
crop or two; exhausts the fertility of the
soil. Proper rotation of crops is
necessary in order to restore the fertility.

9. B. NATURAL PROBLEMS
16) Various Plant Diseases
Various agricultural crops like cotton,
sugarcane, tobacco, wheat and rice
often come under attack of pests and
insects. Pests and plant diseases
reduce the annual productivity of
agriculture.
17) Natural Calamities
Labour is in the hand of mankind but its
result is in the hands of ALLAH in
agriculture sector. So, growth of
agriculture is dominated by nature. In
case if there is too much rain, reduction
in the productivity. There is 20%
reduction in productivity due to
unnecessary rain and unfavorable
climatic situations in Pakistan.

10. 18) Scarcity of HYV Seeds
Our poor farmers have to use lower
quality seeds due to non-availability of
High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds. On
the other hand, if seed is available they
cannot be purchased due to low income.
Agricultural production is badly affected
because of inferior quality of seeds.
19) Under Utilization of Land
Mostly poor population is attached
with agricultural sector in Pakistan. They
are using orthodox and traditional
means of cultivation. Our farmer is not
interested to use the advanced and
modern means of farming, as a result
area under cultivation remains under
utilized, un-utilized or mis-utilized.

11. C. SOCIO-ECONOMIC
PROBLEMS
20) Consumption Oriented
Our farmers have no proper records
of their incomes and expenses. Mostly,
they spend more when they have more
due to illiteracy. A huge part of the
farmer’s income is consumed on
occasions of marriage, birth, death and
several other rural ceremonies and
festivals in Pakistan.
21) Farmer’s Litigation
There are frequent and continuous
litigations among the farmers directly or
indirectly. They are often seen in courts,
police stations, irrigation offices,
revenue boards and other official
problems. Due to mentioned problems,
our farmer cannot devote his time,
energy, efficiency and labour to
agricultural productions.

12. 22) Joint Family System
Joint family system is also a big
problem in agricultural sector. Our
farmer is poor; on the other hand he has
to support his big family. It creates
deficiency in saving and investment. A
huge part of farmer’s productivity is
consumed at his own house.
23) Illiteracy and Ill-health
Most of the farmers, laborers and
tenants in our country are illiterate. They
are untrained and inefficient to boost up
the agricultural productivity. On the
other side, the health of our farmers is
improper due to rural backwardness.
Literacy rate is only 57.7 % in Pakistan.
Economic Survey of Pakistan shows
that literacy remains higher in urban
areas (73.2 percent) than in rural areas
(49.2 percent).

13. 24) Political Instability
Political instability has affected
development in all economic and social
sectors. Unfortunately, the political
situations in Pakistan are not stable. It
creates unrest among the farmers to sell
the productions to various industries as
a raw material. On the other hand,
people hesitate to invest in agricultural
sector due to political unrest.
D. FINANCIAL PROBLEMS
25) Lack of Credit
Basically our farmer is poor and he has
low level of income. Agricultural credit
facilities are not common in Pakistan.
Credit that can facilitate agriculture is
not available easily. Moreover non-
institutional sources are available but
these are not reliable due to high rate of
interest. About 50.8% poor borrow from
landlords in Pakistan.

14. 26) Poor Financial Position of Farmers
It is a common saying about our
farmer that he burns in debts, grows in
debts and dies in debts. It means that
financial position of Pakistani farmer is
weak and poor. According to “Pakistan
Human Development Report 2003”
about 57.4% poor are working for
feudal-lords without wages.
27) Instability in Market Prices
The price market of agricultural
goods generally remains unstable in the
country. Cobweb theorem is very
popular in case of market prices; it
means that a price of one commodity is
much high in this year and much low in
the next year and vice versa. The
farmers, do not get due reward from the
sale of their productions. So, they
remain unsatisfied.
28) Shortage of Agricultural Finance

15. Agricultural credit facilities are not
sufficient in Pakistan. Rate of interest on
agricultural credit is high and loan is not
provided in time. According to “Pakistan
Human Development Report 2003” in
Pakistan about 50.8% poor borrow from
landlords at very high rate of interest.
MEASURES TO REMOVE THESE
PROBLEMS
Following measures are suggested
to improve the agriculture:
1) Supply of Agriculture Credit
Poor farmers cannot afford the
expensive technology from their own
resources in Pakistan. So, supply of
agriculture credit at easy terms and
conditions is very necessary. An amount
of Rs. 85,177 million is disbursed by
commercial banks in 2009 and Rs. 49
billion was distributed by ZTBL. ZTBL

16. issued credit or Rs. 37.4 billions during
2010-11.
2) Water Logging and Salinity Control
Water logging and salinity destroys
about one million acre of land every
year in Punjab and Sindh. It reduces our
cultivable area. For this purpose,
installation of tube wells, repair of canal
banks and drainage of water etc. are
needed. The Ministry of Agriculture
proposed to invest Rs. 18.5 billion with
the objective of converting 2,00,000
acres of irrigated land to drip and
shower irrigation system.
3) Construction of Dames
Sometimes, due to heavy unwanted
rains and floods agricultural
productivities destroys. To tackle this
problem it is necessary to construct
dames and bands on rivers.

17. 4) Provision of HYV Seed
High yielding variety seed is not
available at suitable price in Pakistan.
So, farmers have to depend upon low
quality of seeds that causes 20%
reduction in total production.
Government should provide HYV seed
at minimum price in this case.
5) Mechanization
Farm mechanization is necessary to
remove the problems to agriculture
sector. Sowing, cultivation and
harvesting of crops through agricultural
machines increase the productive
quality and quantity.
6) Agricultural Research
Agricultural research is compulsory
to remove the backwardness of
agriculture sector. Major agricultural
colleges and universities are only about
16 in Pakistan. Government should

18. increase the research work in the field of
agriculture.
7) Agro-based Industries
Agro-based industries like poultry,
fisheries, dairy and livestock should
establish. These industries indirectly
lead to improve the agricultural sector.
8) Tax Concessions
Mechanization is necessary to
remove the problems of agriculture
sector. Government should give tax
concession on imports of agricultural
technologies to enhance the process of
farm mechanization.
9) Training of Farmers
Our farmers are illiterate and ill
trained so, their efficiencies are poor.
Government should start special
education programmed for farmers and
give them training about farming.

19. 10) Prices of Agricultural
Productivities
Sometimes, our farmers receive low
prices of their crops. There is no proper
effective price policy of government.
Government should set reasonable
prices of agricultural productions to
develop the living standard of farmers.
Conclusion:
Being an agrarian country,
agricultural sector of Pakistan’s
economy is still backward. Use of
modern techniques, provision of credit
facilities, basic infrastructure and
agriculture research facilities are
needed to remove all the problems of
agriculture sector.